The asymmetric effects of gasoline prices on public transportation use in Taiwan

This study investigates the asymmetric effects of gasoline prices on public transportation use in Taiwan. The empirical results obtained are as follows. First, we verify that gasoline price is an important determinant of transit demand. Gasoline prices have significantly positive effects on bus and mass rapid transit (MRT) use. Second, MRT ridership is more sensitive than bus and railway ridership to gasoline price and income. In the face of oil prices escalation and economic growth, the MRT system should have higher priority in public transportation planning. Third, the effects of gasoline prices on bus and MRT use are asymmetric. Bus and MRT use increases faster when gasoline prices rise than it decreases when gasoline prices fall. The transit agencies should adjust operating strategies faster in the rising of oil prices than in the falling of oil prices. It is important for transit planning to use oil prices as signals and increase the flexibility of operation in dealing with the changes in ridership. Some strategies, such as enhancing the availability of transfer information and updating transit information timely, are helpful to move passengers efficiently.     

Can value capture work in a car dependent city? Willingness to pay for transit access in Perth,Western Australia

This paper investigates the impact of transit on urban land markets in the highly car dependent corridors of Perth with a focus on where new fast rail transit services have recently been built. It determines people’s willingness to pay for transit access within different pedestrian catchments for each of the corridors based on hedonic price modelling using land value data on over 460,000 households. The case study uses cross sectional and panel data hedonic price modelling methodology for the calculation of willingness to pay for transit. It finds that land market increases of up to 40% can be achieved, and is particularly relevant to car dependent cities looking to capture the financial and economic value created to build transit extensions or entirely new systems, thus making a strong case for value capture funding of transit projects into car dependent suburbs and the potential for density increases near stations.     

An Evaluation of the Accessibility Benefits of Commuter Rail in Eastern Massachusetts using Spatial Hedonic Price Functions

We estimate spatial hedonic price functions to examine local and regional accessibility benefits of commuter rail service in Eastern Massachusetts, while controlling for proximity-related negative externalities and other confounding influences. The data include 1,860 single-family residential properties from four municipalities with commuter rail service, and three municipalities without commuter rail service. We find some evidence of the capitalization of accessibility to commuter rail stations. Two model specifications suggest that properties located in municipalities with commuter rail stations exhibit values that are between 9.6% and 10.1% higher than properties in municipalities without a commuter rail station. With a third model we detect weak evidence of the capitalization of auto access time or walking time to the stations, suggesting that properties located within a one-half mile buffer of a station have values that are 10.1% higher than properties located outside of this buffer area and that an additional minute of drive time from the station is related to a decrease of 1.6% in property values. Our results also indicate that proximity to commuter rail right-of-way has a significant negative effect on property values, which suggests that for every 1,000 ft. in distance from the commuter rail right-of-way, property values are between $732 and $2,897 higher, all else held equal. At the mean sample values, this result translates into an elasticity of between 0.03 and 0.13, depending on the functional form of the hedonic price equation.     

Marseilles integrated transport system

To be fully effective, metro lines must be connected with other modes of transport. This principle has been applied in the city of Marseilles, France. First, a very good interchange between the two metro lines and the national and suburban railway has been developed in the Saint-Charles main railway station. This interchange connects with the adjacent intercity bus terminal. Second, at every metro station, access facilities and neighborhood development were planned. Third, bus stations and car parks were installed at main rail stations. All this was made possible by early coordinated planning.     

Transit passenger response: Short and long term elasticities using time series analysis

This paper investigates the effects of price and service changes on transit ridership. The concept of elasticity is introduced and the traditional methods for estimating elasticities are discussed. In this paper an extra dimension is added by investigating short and long term elasticities. Time series analysis, developed by Box and Jenkins is chosen for the analysis. The Box and Jenkins methodology is applied to a monthly time series of average weekday ridership on the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) rail system. Four categories of explanatory variables are investigated: fare on the CTA rail system, service provided on the CTA rail system, cost of car trips and weather effects. The effects of gas prices and rail service were found to be significant; however the results indicate a twelve month delay before service changes influence ridership. The effect of transit fares was found to be insignificant, indicating that both the short and long term fare elasticities are zero.     

Assessing the usage and level-of-service of pedestrian facilities in train stations: A Swiss case study

A framework for assessing the usage and level-of-service of rail access facilities is presented. It consists of two parts. A dynamic demand estimator allows to obtain time-dependent pedestrian origin–destination demand within walking facilities. Using that demand, a traffic assignment model describes the propagation of pedestrians through the station, providing an estimate of prevalent traffic conditions in terms of flow, walking times, speed and density. The corresponding level-of-service of the facilities can be directly obtained. The framework is discussed at the example of Lausanne railway station. For this train station, a rich set of data sources including travel surveys, pedestrian counts and trajectories has been collected in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Railways. Results show a good performance of the framework. To underline its practical applicability, a six-step planning guideline is presented that can be used to design and optimize rail access facilities for new or existing train stations. In the long term, the framework may also be used for crowd management, involving real-time monitoring and control of pedestrian flows.     

Commuter rail accessibility and house values: The case of the Montreal South Shore,Canada, 1992–2009

While public transportation (PT) plays a crucial role in the social and environmental dimensions, its impacts on the location rent remain poorly known. However, there is a strong connection between PT infrastructures and real estate markets since the former may generate externalities that can influence sales prices. This paper aims at estimating the actual effect of implementing a commuter train service between a major city (Montreal, Canada) and its southern periphery occurring in 2000–2003. Using a difference-in-differences (DID) estimator in the hedonic price model for single-family house sales between 1992 and 2009, the paper estimates the direct marginal price impact of a new commuter train service following changes in access to stations. Results suggest that the opening of a new commuter train service on the Montreal South Shore generates a location premium for houses located in the stations’ vicinity (as measured through walking distance and car driving time) as opposed to houses that do not experience any improvement in accessibility to the commuter train service, either in space or in time. In addition, the new service raises property tax income for involved municipalities by several million dollars a year through enhanced property values.     

Walking accessibility and property prices

Walking is an imperative travel mode, especially for short trips. Walking accessibility, which is defined as the ease of reaching essential destinations in the walk-in catchment area, may affect property prices because residents are more likely to be willing to pay for this attribute. In addition, different categories of public services may have varied influencing directions and magnitude. These two hypotheses are tested in this study. Taking Xiamen, China as a case study, we estimate the cumulative opportunities of public services on foot and develop a set of hedonic pricing models (more specifically, two pre-specified ordinary least squares models, four Box-Cox transformed models, and two spatial econometric models) to estimate, whether and to what extent, walking accessibility contributes to price premiums (or discounts). Using a database of 22,586 second-hand residential properties in 358 multi- or high-storey residential complexes, we find that (1) walking accessibility to public services contributes to the variations in housing prices and plays a role in determining housing prices; (2) different categories of services have vastly divergent, even opposite, influencing impacts; and (3) walking accessibility to primary schools, commercial centers, and sports and cultural centers have positive effects on house prices whereas walking accessibility to comprehensive hospitals adversely affects housing prices. Methodologically, we confirm that spatial econometric methods improve estimation accuracy and have more explanatory power relative to the standard non-spatial models. Robustness check analysis further guarantees the plausibility of this study.     

The impact of urban rail transit on commercial property value: New evidence from Wuhan,China

The interaction between rail transit and the urban property market is a vital foundation for planning transit-based policy such as Value Capture and Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Yet only few studies have reported the impact of transit access on commercial property value. This paper presents empirical evidence from Wuhan, China, to enrich the knowledge in the subject area. Spatial autoregressive models were employed to estimate the commercial value capture, based on 676 observations along Wuhan’s metro rail line through the main business districts. Value appreciation was discovered within the 400 m radius of road network distance from Metro stations. The transit access premiums present as two tiers: 16.7% for the 0–100 m core area and approximately 8.0% within the 100–400 m radius. The result demonstrates the potential benefit of adopting value capture and optimising TOD planning to support sustainable urban rail transit investment. Amid rapid urbanisation in China, the evidence reported here could help better inform cities, across the developing world and beyond, of the benefits of adopting rail transit-based policy.     

Development of railway station choice models to improve the representation of station catchments in rail demand models

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the development of railway station choice models suitable for defining probabilistic station catchments. These catchments can then be incorporated into the aggregate demand models typically used to forecast demand for new rail stations. Revealed preference passenger survey data obtained from the Welsh and Scottish Governments was used for model calibration. Techniques were developed to identify trip origins and destinations from incomplete address information and to automatically validate reported trips. A bespoke trip planner was used to derive mode-specific station access variables and train leg measures. The results from a number of multinomial logit and random parameter (mixed) logit models are presented and their predictive performance assessed. The models were found to have substantially superior predictive accuracy compared to the base model (which assumes the nearest station has a probability of one), indicating that their incorporation into passenger demand forecasting methods has the potential to significantly improve model predictive performance.     

The role of access and egress in passenger overall satisfaction with high speed rail

Passenger satisfaction is critical to ridership growth of high speed rail (HSR). Each HSR trip includes at least four segments: access to HSR stations, waiting, line-haul, and egress from HSR stations. Satisfaction with any segment influences the HSR passenger experience. Previous studies often focus on passenger satisfaction with the line-haul segment, but overlook the effects of all four segments on overall HSR satisfaction, especially access and egress. Using a path analysis on the data collected from the Shanghai-Nanjing HSR corridor in 2016, this study explores the influence of access and egress segments on overall HSR satisfaction and the correlates of satisfaction with HSR access and egress segments. We find that HSR line-haul satisfaction dominates overall HSR satisfaction; HSR access and egress satisfaction together have an equivalent effect. Travel time and route familiarity are important to both access and egress satisfaction. Mode choice affects satisfaction with HSR egress, with egress by car carrying the largest utility of egress satisfaction, followed by rail transit, taxi, and then bus. Thus, to improve HSR experience, traveler information service and the integration of HSR with urban transportation system are critical.

     

The impact of metro services on housing prices: a case study from Beijing

Assessment of the impact of metro systems on housing prices is important for financing transport infrastructure via value capture. This paper provides evidence for this relationship, focusing particularly on the effects of metro services, and uses the large city of Beijing, China, as a case study. A spatial error model was applied to 2835 samples of online property sales data obtained in January 2016. Three transport service indicators associated with metro transfers and waiting times were explored: (1) metro headway, (2) access to different metro lines and (3) accessibility to employment opportunities. The results show that areas with more employment opportunities via public transit have higher housing prices than other areas. Shorter metro headways are positively related to housing prices near stations. Housing prices for neighborhoods having access to more than one metro line within 800 m-buffer area are higher than those without access to metro lines, controlling for number of accessible jobs within 30 min. This study sheds light on the importance of metro services on housing prices. It has implications for further research and for the planning policies of metro-dependent cities.

     

Enhanced bus operations: The Curitiba model and its applicability to China

Buses will remain the backbone of public transport systems for some time to come because of their lower cost and higher flexibility in relation to rail transport. However, buses are perceived as being an inferior mode of public transport and do not offer as much carrying capacity as rail transport. Following the Curitiba model, this paper looks at the potential for transferring some of the key advantages of rail transport to bus operations. This involves transforming bus stops into enclosed stations, with ticket purchase and/or checking in the station and at‐grade access to vehicles. It also involves the extensive use of bus lanes. The potential contribution of transport telematics is looked at, in particular the use of smartcards for payment in a closed fare system. The potential role of the Curitiba model for China is assessed in the context of toll road construction.     

铁路运输企业视角下的公、铁运输企业短期博弈分析

在"一带一路"战略背景下,铁路物流中心的公铁联运业务至关重要。公铁联运业务各主体的协同存在易变性,资源双方是否信任会影响各自的策略选择。本文以铁路运输企业为主导,铁路运输企业接到客户公铁联运订单时会借助平台发布公路运输需求信息,公路运输企业根据自身情况向铁路运输企业表达意愿,最后铁路运输企业根据其采取的策略找到自身是否接受合作的均衡条件。本文通过对公、铁运输企业的短期博弈分析,找到双方合作的均衡条件,为双方利益分配奠定基础。     

Access to railway stations and its potential in increasing rail use

The propensity to travel by rail, and not, for example by car, can be considered to be a factor of the rail service offered, the access to it and the characteristics of the population served. Efforts to increase rail use usually focus on the rail service itself while the accessibility of the rail network receives less attention. In this context, the paper has two broad aims. First, to evaluate how important the ‘access-to-the-station’ part of a rail journey is to passengers in their overall satisfaction with the rail journey and second, to investigate the balance between characteristics of the service, the access to it and the population served in determining rail use in different parts of the rail network. The analysis is carried out for the Netherlands. To achieve the first aim, we use the Dutch Railways customer satisfaction survey and apply principal component analysis and derived importance techniques to assess the relative importance of accessibility in determining the overall satisfaction with the rail journey. For the second aim, we use regression analysis to explain, at the Dutch postcode level, the propensity to use rail. We find that satisfaction with the level and quality of the access to the station is an important dimension of the rail journey which influences the overall satisfaction from that journey and that the quality and level of accessibility is an important element in explaining rail use. The conclusion reached is that in many parts of the rail network improving and expanding access services to the railway station can substitute for improving and expanding the services provided on the rail network and that it is probably more cost efficient when the aim is to increase rail use. These parts of the network are mainly in the periphery where the current level of rail service is relatively low.     

Evaluation of transit proximity effects on residential land prices: an empirical study in Austin,Texas

The Austin MetroRail line in Texas, U.S.A. began operations in 2010 and since then transit-oriented development projects have been fuelled around train stations. Traditional location theory holds that proximity to a transit station should be capitalized into land prices, and numerous empirical studies have demonstrated the effects with mixed results. However, to date no empirical study has investigated this relationship between the newly built rail line and land prices in Austin. This study fills the research gap and suggests a positive effect associated with transit proximity by employing spatial hedonic models. This study also contributes to the existing literature especially in the context of Texas cities where there is a lack of relevant research on transit-capitalization-related topics, and provides insights for decision-makers with different perspectives regarding further rail investment or transportation financing strategies such as value capture programs.     

Explaining “peak car” with economic variables

Many western countries have seen a plateau and subsequent decrease of car travel during the 21st century. What has generated particular interest and debate is the statement that the development cannot be explained by changes in traditional explanatory factors such as GDP and fuel prices. Instead, it has been argued, the observed trends are indications of substantial changes in lifestyles, preferences and attitudes to car travel; what we are experiencing is not just a temporary plateau, but a true “peak car”. However, this study shows that the traditional variables GDP and fuel price are in fact sufficient to explain the observed trends in car traffic in all the countries included in our study: the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden and (to a large extent) Australia and Germany. We argue that the importance of the fuel price increases in the early 2000s has been underappreciated in the studies that shaped the later debate. Results also indicate that GDP elasticities tend to decrease with rising GDP, and that fuel price elasticities tend to increase at high price levels and during periods of rapid price increases.     

The impact of car specifications,prices and incentives for battery electric vehicles in Norway: Choices of heterogeneous consumers

Electric vehicles (EVs), specifically Battery EVs (BEVs), can offer significant energy and emission savings over internal combustion engine vehicles. Norway has a long history of research and government incentives for BEVs. The BEV market in Norway allows us to fully examine consumers’ BEV choices influenced by car specifications, prices and government incentives (public bus lanes access, toll waiver and charging stations). The Random-Coefficient Discrete Choice Model (referred to as the BLP model) is applied to understand the choices of heterogeneous personal consumers and business buyers. Our study is instantiated on the entire EV sales data in Norway from 2011 to 2013, as well as a set of demographics at the municipality level. The results suggest significant positive effects of BEV technology improvement, space, toll waiver and charging station density on EV demand for both personal consumers and business buyers. However, the effects on business buyers may be generally less pronounced than on personal consumers. Interestingly, bus lanes access demonstrates a negative impact for personal consumers, possibly due to consumers’ concern regarding bus lane congestion. In addition, preferences on the BEV price can vary statistically among consumers with different income levels. Compared to the BEV technology development, demographical features and municipal incentives may have generally less impacts on market shares within the BEV market.     

Are railways really that bad? An evaluation of rail systems performance in Europe with a focus on passenger rail

With a large number of railway development projects in Europe and worldwide, which once completed will be serving rail passengers of the future, this paper aims to take a step back and evaluate current railway systems performance. The objectives are to compare statistical data on various passenger-related parameters of the railway system in a number of selected European countries and draw conclusions on the level of their performance when compared to the European average.Analyses of publically available statistical data, extracted from the Eurostat service at a European level will allow for a comparison of various indicators which influence the performance of the railway systems from an infrastructure and operational perspectives. The analyses will also allow identifying key performance indicators for the accurate assessment of the rail systems.The paper will highlight case studies for various parameters which are important to stakeholders of the railways, including infrastructure managers, rail operators, policy makers and the end users. This knowledge will be to the benefit of today’s railway industry as well as the rail systems of the future, as it will show trends drew upon existing data which might continue in the future.